There are records that you just sink into. They coincide with what youโre going through and become an ally. If our records do that for people, thatโs the greatest compliment I could ever receive. Thatโs one of the reasons making music is so important to me, because thereโs a very strange emotional reach. For meโmore than books or movies or other thingsโmusic is like a mainline to your heart.
Matt BerningerI'd say recording and playing on stage are two completely different things. Being up in front of all people is like jumping off a cliff into icy water. The recording process is a totally different energy.
Matt BerningerGetting on stage and performing and standing under lights is such an unsettling experience - in a good and bad way - but it's the only place I can go to feel comfortable.
Matt BerningerI usually always think of characters and sometimes the characters are a little bit invented, so it's nice to give these invented, blurry, personas an actually name. It makes me get closer to them or something like that. But they're not all real, they're weird amalgamations of reality.
Matt Berninger